A True Tragedy
by Hyuuga Akenai
Summary: Itachi's life is falling apart after his brother's death. Will he finally open up to his fellow Akatsuki members, or will he shut them all away? Itachi/Deidara, ItachiXKisame Friendship
1. Sasuke

A True Tragedy- An Itachi-centric Fic

_Sasuke._

The one thing that was driving Uchiha Itachi's life was his younger brother, the only person to survive the Uchiha Massacre, himself excluded. And he was dead now, killed at the hand of Orochimaru. It hurt to think about; Itachi had been working for years to make Sasuke strong, to drive him to kill, to regain the glory of the Uchiha, only to have him fall into the hands of that venomous snake and die there.

Outward, Itachi showed indifference to the news that he had received. Inside, he wanted to die. The one person that could send him to the afterlife and rebuild the clan name was dead. He wanted to weep, but he wasn't sure if he knew how anymore. Years of pretending to have a cold, hard shell could dry your eyes faster than any true tragedy.

That night, Itachi locked himself into his room. Kisame had tried to get Itachi to answer the door, but a kunai slicing through the door right past his head stopped the shark man in his tracks. He turned and walked away, warning everyone to leave the brooding Uchiha alone.

For three days, Itachi stayed in his room, staring out the tinted glass window into the abyss of darkness that was the Hidden Rain Village. It had been storming for a week now, with only the barest traces of sunlight filtering through the thick clouds overhead, casting eerie shadows on the skyscrapers and docks. Itachi liked it that way.

It felt like the world was crying for him.

For Sasuke.

&

"He's not coming out." Kisame grumbled, reaching for the tea pot on the table in front of him. Filling his cup, he looked for the sugar bowl. It was next to Hidan's cup, and when he reached for it the Jashinist slapped his hand away and finished scooping sugar into his cup before pushing the bowl to the shark. Kisame lifted the lid on the bowl and sighed, dropping it back onto the dish and getting up to get the sugar substitute. Hidan's addiction to sugar was getting on his nerves; he had been stuck with fake sweeteners for nearly two weeks now because anytime anyone bought sugar, Hidan coated his food in it. It was like putting sugar on Frosted Flakes; extremely delicious, but entirely unnecessary.

"I know he's not. He's a moody little bitch."

"Shut up, Hidan. You don't know a damn thing about Itachi."

"I know he's got a fucking shota complex. He's in love with that little prick of a brother of his. If the drama queen had his way, he'd be fucking his brother every god damn night."

"Oh, please. Itachi hates the kid. Why do you think he wants to kill him?"

"Maybe someone else did, yeah." Deidara, who had been ignoring the conversation until now, chipped in. "Never seen him hole up like this, yeah."

"Wait, kill or fuck the little fucker?" Hidan dipped a cookie into his overly sugared tea and shoved it into his mouth. Kisame rolled his eyes and Deidara's face held a look of disgust.

"How can you eat that crap, Hidan?"

"Jashin blessed me with this beautiful fuckin' body, and I give him praise by filling it with sugar before a ritual. It makes them extra sweet." He gave a loud, barking laugh at his joke. Everyone else just rolled their eyes and went back to their food. After a moment, Deidara looked up at Kisame.

"I think someone killed Sasuke. Someone should ask, yeah?"

"Let me know how that goes, Deidara. I'm not going near his room. I'm not retarded." Kisame stood and deposited his dishes in the sink. He wasn't going anywhere near Itachi until his mood had visably improved.

And there was no telling how long that was going to take.


	2. An Unwelcome Guest

A/N: I forgot this the first chapter: I DON'T OWN. I make no money. I have no money. I just have a laptop. u.u

For Aneki. You know who you are, luv.

There was a knock at the door, and Itachi ignored it. He didn't want to deal with anyone. The knock repeated, and in a fit of rage, Itachi chucked his pillow at the door. It fell short with a soft 'phumph'. Staring back out the window, he pointedly ignored the opening door. Maybe if he looked extremely brooding and angry, whoever was bothering him might chicken out and leave him in peace.

"Itachi-san?"

No such luck. Shutting the door behind him, Deidara sighed mentally Lately, he'd found himself thinking about the stoic Uchiha more than he cared to think about anything other than his next masterpiece. There was something about the cold, quiet man that was drawing Deidara in, and he found himself wanting to know what had upset Itachi. In any case, no one else seemed to care about their comrade's situation. Maybe it was the fact that Deidara had come to see the Akatsuki as his family; that he didn't want them to be upset.

Well, except for Hidan. He couldn't stand that freak.

Itachi continued to stare out the window, ignoring his 'guest'. Deidara shifted, an irritated look on his face. He didn't like being ignored. Stooping, he picked up the pillow and threw it at Itachi. It smacked the Uchiha in the head, and his head whipped around, Sharingan swirling to draw Deidara into the Tsukiyomi techinique. Deidara lunged forward, eyes closed, his hands closing over Itachi's eyes, blocking the Sharingan from view.

"Don't you fucking dare!"

"Let go." Itachi's voice was a monotone, and he made no movements to remove the hands over his eyes. Deidara snarled at him, face contorting with rage.

"No, un. You've been a moody bitch, locking yourself away, yeah. No one wants to come near this wing; and we fucking LIVE here."

"I don't see why the blame should rest with me."

"Because they're all afraid of you, just because you're pissy about something, yeah. We're tired of tiptoeing past your room because you're pissed off that someone killed your brother before you could, un!"

Itachi resumed his self-imposed silence, and Deidara slowly pulled his hands away from Itachi's eyes. They were closed, and Deidara gave the man a look over. He looked paler than normal. Deidara knew he hadn't been eating the last three days. "Itachi-san… Is-is that the reason? Did your brother really die?"

Itachi continued his vow of silence, and Deidara pulled away, looking down at his hands. "I know we're not the best of friends or anything, but I'm worried about you, yeah." Deidara ran a hand through his hair, feeling fidgety and nervous. After another moment of silence, Deidara sighed. "I'll just go, yeah."

Deidara turned and stalked towards the door, when a shift from Itachi caught his ear. He turned to see Itachi leave his window side perch to stand in front of a hard white chair pressed against the wall, posture proud and threatening all at once. He watched the artist cooly for a moment before speaking again.

"Your concern is misguided and unwanted. Lay your affections on someone who might actually care."

Like a shot Deidara had crossed the room again, slammed Itachi back into the chair, one hand on the wall behind Itachi's head, the other wrapped in Itachi's ponytail. Deidara practically shook with rage, and Itachi stared him down through half-lidded eyes. Deidara leaned closer, snarling at the younger man.

"Listen, Uchiha, if I had affections, I certainly wouldn't waste them on you. You're not even fucking human, yeah. You're brother's fucking dead and you're shutting out the only person who wants to fucking help you." He let go of Itachi and stalked off, slamming the door behind him. Itachi sat there blankly, reflecting on the explosive tempered artist, a small smirk playing on his lips.

"What do you know, Deidara? What do you know?"

Reviews are love!


End file.
